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Harley-Davidson Unveils Their First Electric Motorcycle
Major Blud writes Harley-Davidson has unveiled their first electric motorcycle called "Project LiveWire." The bike is currently not for sale and detailed specifications are scarce. Harley plans on taking it on a demonstration tour of the U.S. for the next year to gather customer feedback. "The new LiveWire won’t make the distinctive 'potato-potato-potato' chug that Harley once tried to patent. Its engine is silent, and the turbine-like hum comes from the meshing of gears. But electric motors do provide better handling and rapid acceleration — with the electric Harley able to go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. LiveWire’s design places the engine at the bottom of the bike."
Loud pipes don't make a difference, riding defensively and not putting yourself in bad positions relative to other traffic is what makes a difference. Visibility also makes a big difference. Consider that most cars these days are very thoroughly sound-proofed, and most people have their radios up loud enough to be heard clearly from outside the car. They routinely fail to notice emergency vehicles until they're literally right in front of them. They probably won't notice the fart can on your bike.
My previous bike was a 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600. It had a completely straight-through "muffler" with all the wadding blown out from years of (ab)use. That thing was loud enough to wake the dead and cause cows to stampede when I rode by. It also spat fire when hitting the limiter and burbled gloriously under engine braking. In short, it was a fantastically antisocial mode of transport. I had a number of close calls while riding it, which I attribute partly to my inexperience, and partly to the fact that it was very dark green, almost black.
My current bike is almost completely opposite. It's a bright orange Yamaha XT660X with stock pipes, and in the two years I've ridden it, I have only had one "close" call. It was really that close at all, just some guy merging closely in front of me. All I had to do was close the throttle and beep the horn. We waved 'hi' to each other as I passed him, he did look a bit sheepish, but I guess he was chatting with his passengers, and I might have been in his blind spot.
And I promise you, I ride every bit as hard on my new bike as I did on my old one. I'm just a lot more conscious about making myself visible and not putting myself in dangerous positions in relation to cars. Exhaust noise doesn't even factor into it.
Eat the rich.